We're Living in a Desperate Time (We Won't Give Up)
by Lioness's Heart
Summary: He knew he was in for bad weather when the Crocodile appeared and knocked him out again. It only got worse from there. Oneshot.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing recognizable. I just play with the characters when they decide to let me. **

**This fic is for my dear friend disneylover3212008. You asked for a fix-it with Jell-O and this is what you get. I am not sorry. Not at all. I hope you enjoy it, dear! **

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He should have known that Zelena would not stop when she undermined every relationship he had. He should have expected her to come after him for revenge. The woman was deranged at best and that was only the beginning.

He knew he was in for bad weather when the Crocodile appeared and knocked him out again. It only got worse from there. They took his hook and tied him up, dropping him down the well until he had to fight to keep his head above the water. He had never been afraid of the water; he had spent almost his entire adult life on the seas. He was not afraid. That did not mean that he liked it. As a matter of fact, he most certainly did not appreciate it at all.

The rope that held him suspended was cutting into his wrists. It was too tight to be able to get either arm out, especially since they had made sure that he could not get either arm free, no matter how hard he tried. Blast them. He would have thought that everyone would discount his left arm, since it was nothing but a stump with a hook strapped onto it. He was wrong. And that got him nowhere. Which meant that he was trapped half-drowned in a well. The only thing that could possibly make it worse was if it was raining. It was not as if they had not already destroyed everything he had been trying to build. His friendship with the prince was in shambles. Not to mention the mess that was his relationship with Emma. Everything had been going so well until the curse that had sent them all back to the Enchanted Forest.

It felt like hours had gone by. His shoulders ached and the muscles in his back spasmed when he tried to adjust so that the circulation in his hand was not cut off. Maybe it was days.

Then there were voices. Killian groaned softly. Just what he wanted. More torture from the bloody green witch herself. Wait—the voices were familiar. Then he heard his name from the top of the well. Emma. What was she doing there? She was still angry with him, wasn't she? His thoughts were becoming increasingly less focused as they jumped from Emma to the _Jolly Roger_ before returning to Emma.

His wrists and shoulders protested when the rope began to move. He was dangling in midair. Suddenly he was freezing as water dripped off of his clothing and back into the well. He could barely feel the rest of his body after hours in the water.

They hauled him out of the well and he tumbled into the dirt. He had forgotten that his ankles were tired together, too. How wonderful.

There were close to half a dozen people clustered around him. Emma and Robin were untying the ropes that bound him while Regina and Henry stood back, Robin's boy in Regina's arms. Belle was with them for some reason – he wasn't sure why that could be since she had still not forgiven him for trying to kill her in the past. Or was he just seeing things? That must have been it, because she was gone a second later.

"Killian. Killian, look at me." Emma's voice cut through the haze of his thoughts. He blinked at her a few times but managed to do as she said. There was concern in her bright eyes. That was certainly more than he had expected. "Killian. You need to wake up. We need your help," she added, her voice softer this time.

He groaned again, shifting now that his arms and legs were free. "Give me a moment, love. I need to catch my breath." He pushed himself up, propping himself up on his elbow until he could do just that. Emma watched him silently, never tearing her eyes away.

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

Killian looked up at her. Those were not words that came out of Emma's mouth often. He studied her until she started shifting uncomfortably. "What for?" he asked finally.

"I should have trusted you," Emma said. She shrugged noncommittally, finally looking at Henry before she looked back at Killian. "I should have believed in you. You haven't let me down before."

Kilian shook his head, pushing himself up until he was sitting. "Don't be. In your position, I'd have done the same thing. The boy was in danger and I was less than honest."

Emma bit her lip. "Mary Margaret had the baby," she said. "Zelena almost got her hands on him." Her voice was quiet. She was scared. He could tell that much.

"What do you want me to do? I'm no match for a witch of her strength," Killian pointed out. He struggled to his feet with Robin's help and staggered a few steps before he found his land legs again, thanks to Robin grabbing his arm to keep him from falling again.

"We need you there. David can't hold her off on his own and we need you."

Killian pressed his lips together and breathed out a sigh. He knew full well that they were fully capable of doing so without him. He was not magical. Emma and Regina both were. He was a simple pirate. They did not need him. But this was Emma. Beautiful, magical, distrustful Emma. He could never say no to her.

"What do you want me to do?" he repeated. He placed his hand on his sodden belt. His knees were weak and he felt useless. The best he could do was to keep himself standing.

Emma stared at him, hope blossoming in her eyes again. "Come with us," she said. She turned and started moving, glancing back at him and the others. They followed her, Regina and Robin speaking softly to each other. Killian followed them, moving slowly towards the truck – David's truck.

Robin helped Killian into the back while Regina and Henry climbed into the front with Emma then climbed in himself. He glanced at Killian as Emma started the truck and started moving. "You alright, mate?"

Killian nodded. "Fine," he ground out. "I'll be fine."

"Good," Robin replied. He spoke more to fill the silence than anything, Killian knew. They fell into that silence a moment later. It was a companionable silence, at least. Feeling began to return to Killian's extremities as they drove. He did not know how much use he would be. He doubted it would be much.

They were in Storybrooke proper before he knew it. Then they were at the hospital and they were climbing out of the truck. The bright light was disorienting at the very least.

He was no sooner out of the truck and crossing the grass between the road and the sidewalk when there was a knife at his throat. Again. Of course. That was just his luck.

"I see you retrieved the captain," the voice behind him said. Zelena. At least it wasn't Rumplestiltskin.

"Zelena, stop!" Emma shouted. She took two steps towards Killian before Zelena pressed the knife harder against his throat. A warm trickle slid down his neck.

"Not another step," Zelena hissed.

"Let him go!" Emma shifted her stance, calling on her magic as he had seen her do at the pier.

Zelena dropped the knife and staggered. He stumbled forward, turning on his heel before she could get to him again. She snarled, angry eyes on the little band of misfits before her. "It ends here," she said. Her right hand moved in a blur.

Something sharp hit him just below the collarbone. He looked down to see a hairpin knife sprouting there. The wound was not deep – he had had enough injuries in the last three hundred years to know that. It was just the point of the dagger, deep enough to bleed but not to do much else. It was not deep or near anything vital, but suddenly he felt dizzy. He ripped the dagger out, looking at it for a moment. It was covered in something.

It slipped out of his hand as he turned to look at Emma. His knees were weak again. His head was spinning. The world was closing in around him.

He heard her shriek his name as his knees gave out. The grass was soft beneath him, he noted dimly. Then everything went black.

He woke with a start. He was disoriented and the world was spinning still. The lights around him were bright but they were not the sun. Strange. He had just been outside, hadn't he?

That was when he realized that Emma was standing by him and he was in a hospital bed. Again. This seemed too familiar. He blinked at her. A witty remark came to mind but died on his lips when he saw the look on her face. It was a mixture of fear, hope, joy – too many emotions for him to name.

"Emma," he breathed softly. It was a question and a statement, full of everything he knew he did not need to say and all of the things he could not bear to ask.

"It was a sleeping curse," Emma said. "Zelena stole it from Regina during the year they were in the Enchanted Forest."

Killian nodded. "Aren't Regina's sleeping curses nearly impossible to break?"

Emma was silent for a moment. "I'm the Savior," she said simply. "I can break any curse."

"Emma." He knew there was more that she was not telling him.

She sucked in a breath, her gaze dropping to the floor. "There's more than one way to break a sleeping curse."

"I can't imagine any way that is readily available when you're fighting the Wicked Witch of the West."

Emma pursed her lips. She did not want to say it. He could see that in her face. Then her shoulders drooped and some of the tension drained away from her posture. "You know one," she said. _Do I have to say it?_ He read the silent question in her eyes. He did not speak. He just continued to look at her expectantly. She fidgeted, looking everywhere but at him. Then she met his eyes and sighed. "True Love's Kiss. It's the only way to wake someone in a sleeping curse that doesn't require days of potion brewing."

A slow smile spread across Killian's face. "You don't say."

Emma flushed red, her gaze firmly fixed on the floor.

Killian chuckled softly. "Come here, Emma," he said, pushing himself up enough that he was sitting. He reached out and touched her chin, raising her gaze to meet his. "Thank you."

A faint smile touched her lips. "Don't make me use it again or you will be one very sorry pirate."

"I wouldn't dare, love," Killian replied. "I wouldn't dare."

Emma sat down on the bed then and relayed the details of what had happened after the curse had hit him. Zelena had taken her newborn brother and tried to cast the curse. She had managed to ruin her own plans when she had put Killian under a sleeping curse. He was sure it had been designed to do what he could not – take away Emma's magic with a kiss. She must have been sure that Emma would not risk leaving him and would have tried to wake up. She had not expected Emma to wait until the battle was over to revive the pirate captain.

There was a knock on the door then. Killian and Emma turned to see David standing awkwardly in the doorway. "Am I interrupting?" he asked.

Emma shook her head. "No. How's Mary Margaret?"

David smiled faintly. "She's doing well, all things considered. She's sleeping. It's been a rough day," he said. "Do you mind if I talk to Killian?" he added.

Emma shook her head and got to her feet. "Go ahead. I'm going to go check on Henry." She glanced at Killian, then slipped out of the room.

David stood awkwardly in the doorway for another moment before entering the room. He was carrying a plastic bowl full of brightly colored Jell-O. It was red, which Killian had not seen before. "I heard you liked Jell-O," David said.

"Aye, I do," Killian replied.

David licked his lips. His throat was suddenly dry. He took a deep breath, then looked back at the pirate. "I wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have called you a liar. Gold told us everything."

Killian nodded slowly. "It was him that sent the bird?"

"No. It was Neal. He sent you the message because he knew you had the best chance of finding Emma. Looks like he was right. You never did give up on her, did you?"

Killian shrugged, leaning back against the hard hospital bed. "I tried."

"That's not how True Love works, though. You can't give up on the one you love, no matter how hard you try," David said. Their eyes met. "I know how Emma woke you. I woke Snow from a sleeping curse once."

Killian nodded again. He opened his mouth to speak but David held up a hand.

"You gave her hope when she had none left," he said softly. "None of us could do that. Thank you. Thank you for bringing her back. We would never have been able to stop Zelena if you hadn't."

"It was the least I could do, mate," Killian replied. He took a breath, then let it out. "I needed her as much as you did."

David nodded, a smile touching his lips. "Take care of her. If you break her heart, I'll make sure you regret it."

They looked at each other for a moment, then laughed. "I wouldn't dream of it," Killian intoned.

Emma poked her head into the room a moment later. "You two done in here? Henry wants to see Killian."

David turned and nodded, moving to put the Jell-O peace offering on the bedside table before turning to go. "Don't forget what I said."

"I assure you, I will not," Killian replied.

Emma gave the two of them a strange look, then rolled her eyes. She knew exactly what had just happened and she didn't know why she had not thought of it earlier. It really was not a surprise.

Henry appeared in the doorway next.

Killian waved him over. "Henry, lad, come over here," he said. "Have I got a story to tell you."

Henry grinned. Behind him, his mother did the same. Then Henry hopped up on the bed and Killian started the story, glancing at Emma every few seconds while they waited for Dr. Whale to check in on them and discharge Killian. As he told the story, he retrieved the Jell-O and settled it in his lap, then dislodged the spoon David had stuck into it.

When he looked at her Killian's heart felt like it was so full it would burst with something akin to joy. He could not find the right name for it, but for the first time in three hundred years he was well and truly home.


End file.
